1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article management system configured to manage articles by reading information held in a RFID tag provided to each managed article, and a portable apparatus for communicating with a RFID tag configured to use this article management system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A small-sized RFID tag capable of transmitting and receiving information with an external source is often provided to an article so that article searches and article management can be performed. A RFID circuit element provided to a RFID tag comprises an IC circuit part configured to store information and a tag antenna configured to transmit and receive information, and is capable of transmitting and receiving information in a non-contact manner with an apparatus for communicating with a RFID tag. The respective identification information is provided to each RFID circuit element, and a RFID circuit element that receives an inquiry signal from the apparatus for communicating with a RFID tag returns a reply signal that includes the identification information to the apparatus for communicating with a RFID tag.
One known example of such an article management system is the system described in JP, A, 1999-205202. In this prior art, each bottle of spirits that has been purchased by a customer at a restaurant and is to be kept for that customer at the restaurant is established as a managed article, and each such bottle is provided with a RFID tag (IC tag). When a customer who has purchased such a bottle arrives at the restaurant, the restaurant staff enters the name of the customer into a portable apparatus for communicating with a RFID tag (a reader/writer). As a result, an inquiry signal that includes the identification information of the RFID circuit element corresponding to the customer name, etc., is outputted. The staff then consecutively holds the apparatus over the kept group of bottles. At this time, the RFID tag of each bottle determines whether or not the identification information included in the inquiry signal matches its own information and, when the identification information does match its own, makes a notification (light emission from a fluorescent diode) to the staff accordingly by a notifying device provided to the RFID tag. As a result, when the portable apparatus for communicating with a RFID tag is consecutively held over each bottle in this manner, all bottles other than the bottle kept for that customer do not respond while the bottle kept for that customer emits a light in response to its own identification information, making it possible for the staff to quickly find the target bottle.
Nevertheless, the above-described prior art has the following problems.
That is, the RFID tag provided to the managed article (bottle) that is the search target may fail for some reason or other or have communication difficulties due to the displaced orientation of the managed article or the surrounding radio wave environment. In such a case, when the portable apparatus for communicating with a RFID is held over the managed article that is the search target as described above, the RFID circuit element does not respond and the above-described notification is not made. As a result, the operator does not recognize that the managed article was the search target. Further, in such a case, no notification is made from any of the managed articles even when the portable apparatus for communicating with a RFID tag is used on all managed articles. The staff must therefore find the managed article that is the search target by, for example, visually inspecting all managed articles, resulting in a substantial amount of labor.